Travel Journey Final Chapter

Travel Journey – Final Chapter

Our last day in Slovakia was a travel day. At 7:30 AM we caught a ride to the Bratislava airport with our Armenian friend. We had to wait from 10 AM till 1:30 PM to catch a coach across to Vienna, Austria. It was a gorgeous sunny day though and we just took in the beauty and chatted about all our “new” friends and their challenges. We realized that God has given us favor among many of these people because of our age and our basic journey through life. There are others that these people can’t relate to because of their age and because they have not been “pastors”. So we are humbled that God can use us to help encourage others.

We took a taxi from Vienna to a little village called Maria Elland on the Danube. We checked into a bed & breakfast place. This place was right beside a train station but it is not noisy like being beside our train stations. The family took Thursdays off to shop and so we were on our own for meals. We decided to go for a walk. We picked up some groceries to make ourselves a light supper and some fruit for breakfast. We found a hiking path and went for a long walk. Now you have to know that I LOVE nature and enjoy the simplicity of a walk especially in a quiet setting. It was like a final dose of medicine for me and a sweet blessing from God. We walked through this amazing forest and ended up down by the Danube. The Danube is definitely not blue. There are many cruises that go up and down the Danube. I sure wouldn’t want to fall in it as the current is incredibly fast. I maybe could build a raft and not have to work to go anywhere.

A taxi picked us up at 4:45 AM Friday morning and we began our journey home. We do have this thing about getting in a line at the Vienna airport only to discover we are in the wrong line. It happened last time we were there. For some reason they couldn’t issue my husband’s boarding pass for the flight from Frankfurt to Toronto so we had to rush like crazy between our flights to get in another long line to get a boarding pass for the next leg of our journey. These long lines at airports can be grueling! They really do test your endurance and patience!!! There are people who butt into line in front of you. There are people who are arrogant and think the world revolves around them. There are those who leave their bags in line and run off somewhere and expect their bags to go forward for them??? It is amazing! Humanity! We are a crazy lot!

Flying somewhere over Ireland and over the Atlantic, I looked out the airplane window and was overcome with emotion. I remembered a song

Though men may strive to go beyond the reach of space
To crawl beyond the distant shining stars
This world's a room so small within my Master's house --
The open sky but a portion of his yard.

How big is God, how big and wide His vast domain?
To try to tell these lips can only start
He's big enough to rule this mighty universe
Yet small enough to live within my heart.

As autumn chill may cause the tiny seed to fall…
To lie asleep till waked by summer's rain
The heart grown cold will warm and throb with life anew
The Master's touch will bring the glow again.

How big is God, how big and wide His vast domain?
To try to tell these lips can only start
He's big enough to rule this mighty universe
Yet small enough to live within my heart.

God is SO AWESOME and yet He cares for me! When you look down from an airplane window and see how small houses are and you can’t even see people…you realize how insanely amazing it is that God loves EACH person so intimately. I was overcome with love for my GREAT God. I felt enveloped in His love.

What a great ending to my trip.

Of course, there was the arriving at the airport and our precious sons waiting for us with smiles and hugs as big as big can be. They never complain when we go but I know it puts extra pressure on them while we are away and they cope very well.

We are SO Blessed!

Travel Journey Chapter 4

We boarded a train after Euro Summit and traveled 3 hours to Banska Bystrica, a city in the tetras, up closer to the border of Poland. For those of you wondering what the tetras are…they are not mountains but very high hills. The trees were just beginning to change color so the ride was beautiful. At times we rode through dense fog. There is something very mystical about fog. You are riding through this thick stuff and can only see your very next step. I was reminded that there are times in our lives when we know we are heading the right direction but the fog of circumstances can be quite intense around us and we have to take the next step knowing we are doing the right thing. We can’t just stop.

We spent the next few days visiting with some missionaries from USA. We had breakfast meetings, supper meetings with some of the national people as well. We learn so much about the culture and that many of these dear friends struggle with the same issues we do. We may be of different nationalities but one thing is the same…we all have the same struggles with our bodies and emotions. Babies cry and throw temper tantrums. Young people fall in love. Jealousy, Anger, Sorrow, Laughter, Insecurity are all things we struggle with and share in common.

One dear lady we met was actually quite sick. She had just arrived in Slovakia to help teach at the University. Her husband had passed away and she still wanted to do something productive with her life. She was an inspiration to visit. I also had opportunity to visit with a young 24 year old gal who is doing some teaching there as well. She was a delightful girl. She sat and listened to our stories like a daughter might. It was special to hear her story too. No matter how old we are, we can LOVE God and DO something for the Kingdom of God.

The whole time I was visiting all these people, I had been wondering what on earth I was doing here. These people are extraordinary and gifted people. Who am I to have the privilege of just visiting these troupers? They unwittingly answered that by telling me how special it was to have someone come and “listen” to them and just have someone they can communicate in English and share some of their frustrations.

My husband got to fulfill one of his dreams. He is a history buff and one day he and one of the missionaries headed up to Poland to Auschwitz. I passed as I didn’t think I would handle that well. Instead I went down to the City square and visited many little shops. I also walked through a very old graveyard. My sister-in-laws would be so proud of me.

As I was walking through the graveyard I heard these things falling from the trees. They were hitting the ground with quite a “thug”. I had noted earlier these huge nuts on the ground but didn’t know what they were. “Chestnuts”! Boy are those suckers big. I wouldn’t want to get gonged by one of those beggars.

One evening we were driven up a very narrow windy mountain road to this little village. In reminded me of the stories of Heidi in the Alps. These mountains were not that big but still the setting was what I would imagine in a Bavarian setting. It was pretty cool. You have heard of covered bridges. Well we walked up 100 covered steps to a little church. It was getting dusk so we had to hoof it to get back down to the chalet where the restaurant was. We actually walked along paths that were at the height of roof gutters. The homes are built into the mountain. This little village was established MANY years ago as a gold mining village. Now it is being fixed up so you can get away to vacation in this quiet setting. The food was fabulous at the restaurant. We had some garlic soup to kill any bugs we might have encountered during our visit and it worked as we didn’t get sick. We visited with a gentleman from Romania and Armenia. They told us the struggles they are facing in their churches. Pray for fellow believers around the world. They face issues just like us and need us to pray for them. They always pray for the Western churches to be in love with Jesus.

Remember I told you about the conserving of energy. Well we were taken every night to an apartment building to spend the night in a suite of a missionary who was home in the US for health reasons. The first night our host walked us to the door and took us up the elevator and let us into the room. She gave us her cell phone that 1st night. The next night they dropped us off at the curb and gave us the key. We found the hole to put the key in and got into the apartment and remembered where the switches were to turn on the lights. We proceeded to the elevator and suddenly realized we had to idea what floor we were on. Now these buildings all look the same inside and out. We have no phone so we start pushing buttons. We are hoping we’ll remember something about the floor. We went to floor 5, found the hall switch but it didn’t feel right. We went to floor 6 but my husband felt we had not been up that high. Then I remembered something! I remembered waiting for the elevator in the morning and seeing a mat wrapped in a pink raglan sleeve t-shirt. The arms that wrapped around the bottom of the mat were striped. The pink looked like an arrow pointing to the apartment door. We decided to try the 4th floor and there was the pink covered mat!

I do have to mention the doors to the bathroom and toilet rooms were very unique in this suite. They reminded me of a doorway you would enter going into a castle. They had that arch shape. Pretty special. The walls and floors were tiled in brick red. The tub in this suite was huge!!!!! I almost needed to get a step stool to climb into it. You will have noted by now that I am a person who notices detail….sorry! I drive my husband and sons nuts! Probably you too!

Travel Diary Chapter 3

I hope I'm not boring you to death but this has been great for me to filter my observations, thoughts, feelings, etc.

Ironing

Because we failed to pack a shirt & tie for the banquet, we had to purchase them in Slovakia. I had to ask the hotel if I could use their iron. Now this was another interesting adventure. Usually in Canada there is a iron and ironing board in the hotel room or they will deliver such to your room. In the hotel we stayed in Slovakia, I was asked to bring my shirt to the front desk, follow a gal to the ironing room and she would have to supervise me using the iron and then lock the room when I was done. Now this was no ordinary room. It was a small room with lino flooring, 3 tables, 2 small machines - maybe both washers...not sure, a few lines strung across the room with a couple of coveralls hanging with clothespins. The window to the room was open. The light fixtures were just bulbs hanging in the room. There was one table covered with a blanket and a sheet spread across it and a very old iron. I was trying to figure out why I needed to be supervised to do my ironing. Like was I going to steal the iron or maybe the lightbulb? I shouldn't be making fun! I think really it is just a ritual left over from the communist days. I did have a chat with the gal about their laundry habits in their own homes. She was actually pretty good in English. She said they have small washers but most people don't have dryers. They hang their clothes on their balconies to dry and therefore have to iron everything. She had spent 4 hours the day before ironing her stuff at home. I noted later how everyone's clothes on the tram, bus, train are crisply pressed. So even a mundane job like ironing a shirt became an adventure for me.

Days Following the Summit for me were R & R

Friday afternoon we had some free time to go down into the heart of Bratislava and walk along the Danube River and enjoy the "old" city. Right down in the middle of it, we found MacDonald's. We just wandered and enjoyed some fresh air. Friday evening my husband started into meetings and he was busy all day Sat. and Sun. I linked up the director's wife from the States. She was so like my sister, it was wild! We talked and talked... She & her husband have had a similar journey to us so we related very well to one another. They have 2 boys and her husband has walked through depression, ministry stuff...we just enjoyed fellowship. It was so cool. We even took the tram by ourselves downtown again and walked by the Danube. I had taken 2 books with me and read one by Donald Miller "Searching for God Knows What".

Oh...I have to tell you about my adventure going to swim. There happened to be a swimming pool in the hotel so I decided for a workout that I would run the stairs and then swim. I've told you about the lights. Well I found my way "to" the pool but coming back to the changing room was another story. There were no lights on so I'm groping along this dark hallway and find a doorway. I was trying to find a light switch and waved my arms to see if I would trigger a light to come on when all of a sudden a person appears out of the darkness and in another language seems upset that I'm doing something wrong. I stood perfectly still in my swimsuit wondering if I was supposed to have a towel or I wasn't allowed out of the pool or if in the arm waving thing I had done something very inappropriate. What I finally figured out was I was going into the men's change room instead of the women's...because I couldn't "SEE" to see pictures or read signs. Dah!

After eating the same meals all week the 14 of us left, decided to eat out. The one night all 14 of us were trying to get bus tickets. You have to purchase 10 min, 20 min, or 30 min tickets depending how long your ride will take you. So there were 20 people lined up at this little box to get our tickets. Meanwhile our fearless leader was getting impatient to get going. We had been told what bus to take to get to our destination but our leader ran ahead and we all thought he had talked to the bus driver and he just yelled "This one Mates". So we all ran like crazy and boarded only to find out he had no idea where we were going. We rode and rode...way out into an industrial area. My husband was thinking we may have to start a church plant. Anyway our American cohert in his American "shyness" yelled "Does anyone speak English?" Of course if you did, you didn't want to confess when there were 14 English speaking people overtaking the bus. Finally 3 people who could speak English spoke quietly to 3 of our crew and we got instructions how to get out of our dilemna. Thank goodness all three instructions were the same. Our leader's response was "We are making a memory." That we did! We had so much fun.

I'll fill you in on more on Chapter 4...

Travel Memories Part 2

Euro Summit 2005

This was the purpose of our trip. Euro Summit is a time when NLI leaders come together to connect, build relationships, inform, and inspire one another in the challenge that we are undertaking. We are provided ample opportunity to visit at breakfast, lunch and supper to build relationship. It is so amazing to be able to sit with people from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Australia, New Zealand, USA, England and Canada and share. All of us coming from varied backgrounds but all with the same purpose. I think the thing that impressed me about everyone I met was the quality of people we met. Some could be making big money in the corporate world - bank managers, teachers, researchers, business men, engineers...you name it. It is exciting to be a part of such an amazing group of people.

Now here is where I have to be totally "gut-level" honest. I went to this Summit exhausted. I was feeling ..."I would much rather fly to visit my family members and hang out than fly off to another world and meet a bunch of strangers." I sat through many of these sessions trying to absorb information but I was battling some heart issues. Now upon my return I would like to go back and hear some of the sessions again. I do have the notes and as I'm reading them over, I wish I had been more "with it" and absorbed more. I also have to be a little easy on myself as I was learning too and trying to figure how everything fit together. There were reports from people co-ordinating Leadership Training sessions in all these countries, reports from people co-ordinating Short Term Mission trips to help with the church plants and reports from people co-ordinating the Church Plant Projects as well as from the church planters themselves. There was lots to take in.

We started each morning in prayer groups. That was special. My group was made up of a church planter in Poland, a leader in NLI based in England, a lady pastor from Australia who wanted to learn about NLI to see how they could help in the mission and myself.

If I could summarize some points to ponder that I embraced from the Summit they would be:

1. Let nothing be wasted...make good use of everything...even our failures.

2. Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do."
Share my weakness so others can stand with me. (Therefore I'm being brutally honest and putting lots of people on my e-mail list so I can connect and you can help me in prayer and encouragement)

3. I was challenged to be part of a "Life Group" and the importance of relationship for accountability, education, spiritual growth, financial responsiblity, physical health & well being.

The exciting reports have motivated me into the bigger picture of NLI and what our role is to help these church planters struggling to push through incredible barriers to reach others with the Gospel. NLI has successfully planted 60 churches since 1996. The men from Ukraine shared how the short term missions teams have given the church in Ukraine authority and favor with governments, have promoted the churches to step to the next level. More people from the communities have come to the church to "see what is happening" and therefore are exposed to the gospel. NLI trains all these church planters as Bible College is not an option for them in these countries.

My husband is actually leaving to go with our lead pastor Nov 16 to do a week training module in Slovakia for church planters in that country. We are trusting God for 8 - 10 church plants in Slovakia this next year. The following year our focus will be Estonia. There is a lot of other stuff happening but I don't want to put it on a blog. Remember Jesus will not return until people hear the gospel. We have a huge job to do. As each one of us partners together....WOW!!!!

The one evening we had a banquet and guess what we had the same meal we had every other day. That is something I haven't mentioned - our food! It was delicious by the way but just the same.

Breakfast ... cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, assortments of breads, yogurt, cold meats, cheese, eggs, weiners that were very greasy

Lunch - chicken breast, potatoes or rice, salad consisting of a leaf of butter lettuce, a tablespoon of grated carrot, tablespoon of grated green cabbage, tablespoon of grated red cabbage, a cucumber slice and tomato slice and an awesome dessert usually a donut filled with whip cream or cake

Supper - the same...chicken breast done as a stew or chicken breast in a sauce or chicken breast with a crumb crust

It was so special at the banquet as we all had to dress up and come down to the same restaurant for the same food but the tables had been arranged differently. Each lady received a rose as she arrived. You should have seen all the nationals as they arrived. It was so special. Each of these nationals, by the way, were sponsored by NLI to come so this was a "HUGE" treat for them. It was such a blessing to see them, to see their smiles, hear their laughter and watch them receive such huge blessing.

We took an offering that night for a building in Romania that the leaders are wanting to purchase to use as a rehabilitation center. We as a bunch of missionaries raised approximately $14,000. There were a few business men there too observing as to whether they wanted to invest in this missions organization but there were maybe 4 out of 70. Now isn't that awesome!!!!

I sure hope all these details of my trip are not boring you to death. I still have more to share but I'll let you look forward to another chapter later.

Travel Journey Memories - Part 1

We are back and I've been thinking of writing my memoires from my trip. There are so many.

First of all travelling and observing people is a fun way to pass time in an airport or on a plane. There are the parents with twins who are nearly tearing their hair out as they fight with the little 2 year olds who just get fed up with sitting. I wish I could act like them sometimes. My legs get so sore sitting and not being able to reach the floor or the foot rest!

Then there is the guy that is oversized for his seat. It must be so frustrating trying to squeeze into a one-size fits all seat! The stewardess had to remove the arm of the chair so he could hang over the aisle.

Then there was the lady who seemed to make the most of every minute. She appeared to be a person who would never make a mistake but I caught her!!!! She sat in the airport and did "homework". She got on the plane and did "homework". She was very careful what she ate. She was precise and looked the part too...her little body dressed simple but stylish. She finished eating and reached into the storage compartment to get her toothbrush. She took off to the w/c to brush her teeth and ...left the overhead compartment bin open. I was shocked. If we hit an air pocket all that luggage could come flying out and bonk people on the heads. I couldn't believe my little miss perfect lady would do such a thing.

My husband & I flew separately to Vienna. He left much earlier than me and I arrived 3/4 of an hour after him. The people that sat next to me were pleasant and I learned all about their family, their journey and then I slept beside them... When you think about it, it is funny how we can sit down beside a perfect stranger and sleep!

After we got our luggage and were waiting to board a bus to Bratislava, Slovakia we encountered our first pick-pocketer. He pulled this wallet out in front of us and there was $37 in Canadian money. Al had noted a man earlier swearing because he couldn't find his wallet. There wasn't a thing we could do. We were going to this man's country and there were no police around! So that was an initial feeling of helplessness.

We took a taxi from the bus station in Bratislava to our hotel and unpacked. The room we stayed in this time had some new rennovations. The bathrooms are different that America. They would think we are so not private. Their cubicles in "any" place are completely closed in-floor to ceiling. The bathroom was entirely tiled and had a hand held shower head. There was even a hairdryer. It looked more like a vacuum cleaner but it worked. The towels are all dried on a line rather than in a dryer so are like sandpaper. So after a shower, we got a good body scrub. The beds are always "twin" Each person gets a duvet that feels like a ton of bricks and so warm you can do your work out while you sleep and sweat too! The pillows were so big and soft that there definitely was no neck support. All the rooms have an entry way and then a second door into the bedroom. The bathroom is off the entry way. Most of the bathrooms are 2 rooms - one room for the toilet and one for the shower and sink.

Now let me talk about lighting. When you see the brochures of hotels, they are well lighted and bright but in reality, these people know how to conserve energy. All lights have to be turned on. So when we got off the elevator on the 5th floor we had to find a light switch and then walk very fast to get to our room and get our key into the lock before the timer turned the light off. This was the same everywhere we stayed. Talk about a feeling of "darkness". That little thing kept reminding me of all these people in all these apartment complexes who are lost in darkness and need to know Jesus.

We went for a walk to get a feel of where we were staying. The sidewalks in the area were paved not cement. They were very uneven with many little bumps and dips. As we walked I said "Boy you sure have to watch your step". Five minutes down the walk, I was looking at a little store front as any gal would do and my foot landed on one of these uneven spots. I rolled my ankle and fell right in front of my husband, literally rolling down the walk. I bruised my leg and rib and shoulder. I told you...I rolled! So I made a grand entry to Bratislava. I got up and kept walking though. I didn't travel all this way to sit!

We went to the hotel & figured out how to order some supper. Getting natural water was a challenge. One because we couldn't speak the language and say the right thing that the waiter would understand. They would bring mineral water with bubbles or without bubbles and we didn't want either. We wanted natural water so then I got tap water! I finally found the "brand" on a bottle and asked for that. I did try different bottled juices though that were very good. They would be more like our sparkling grape juice here.

We went to bed at 6 pm and slept till morning. We had breakfast and slept till noon. That was exactly what I needed to get over my dreadful sinus infection and then I was super for the duration of our trip.

Well that concludes Part 1...I'm too tired to type more.